


Sataareth Talan

by Direga



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Confrontations, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-29 23:29:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3914689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Direga/pseuds/Direga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This story will feature an original character, Ash, a Qunari/Human hybrid male Viddathari and an Ashaad, which means that he is a scout for the Qun. He is proficient with dual swords however, and he would have been made a warrior if not for his ability to remain hidden while moving and his ability to draw maps. He always enjoyed his time alone, scouting the far lands outside Par Vollen as the Qun deemed necessary. However, his assignment to survey the Conclave did not go as expected, and he ended up monitoring the Inquisition's work from afar. Later, his interactions with the Inquisition members made him realize that the Qun was only suppressing a bigger issue within him, and that he would not be able to control himself for long".</p><p>This work is set during the events of the game and it is supposed to be an introductory work for the character, as I intend to begin a series with other plot elements set after the death of Corypheus. Note that I will change some elements of the original story to fit the context better. There will be some shifts to the PoV of other characters, but the story will center around Ash mainly. I will also add more tags as I go along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Inner Demons (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> I have another chapter almost ready and will be posting it sometime in the next week. You can expect maybe a weekly update schedule, unless work gets in the way. Also, this is my first time writing any kind of story, not mentioning that English isn't even my native language, so bear with me. I hope the quality will increase over time, but any constructive criticism on how to improve will be appreciated.  
> These first chapters are a bit lacking in the interaction between characters, there should be more in the future.  
> I am also keeping some information about how Ash looks. I can say that he looks like a normal human despite being half Qunari (I will explore this at a later chapter), with jet black hair and beard along his lower jaw. He also has an athletic build, born of his constant practice with his swords and probably helped by his Qunari heritage.

_His steps were difficult and the village seemed to keep distancing even more by each one he took towards it. He could see the smoke, hear the screams, smell the death... he did not want to continue, and yet he did. He had gone to practice a bit with his swords, which the blacksmith in the town gave to him. "Learn to use them, protect yourself", he said. His parents told him to not leave the village, said it was too dangerous. Even if he looked pretty much like a normal human: average height, no horns and light skin color, no one was ever truly safe. He knew it to be true, and he didn't get too far away, but he always liked to be alone and practising inside the village tended to gather a small crowed._

_Finally, he reached the village. He stayed hidden like he did every time he reached this point. Looking inside the village he could see the huge Quna-NO, Tal-Vashoth, killing everyone they could find, knocking down doors, destroying everything. The look on their eyes showed insanity, madness, blood lust and he could hear them laugh, as they reveled in the killing spree. He felt the heat of the fires that were raging on the nearby houses. The ever so familiar scene reminded him of what was to come. Sure enough, a group of Qunari approached the village and attacked the Tal-Vashoth relentlessly. They were coordinated, unlike the others, showing that they have done this many times before. They started on the outside, moving in, pushing the Tal-Vashoth to the village center. There was no escape for them. It was, however, already too late, but even so he couldn't help but sneak into the village and head to his house, knowing full well what awaited him._

_The door was trashed open, blood in the floor, the walls, the ceiling, everywhere. At the center his parents laid butchered. His mother was almost unrecognizable due to several wounds on her face. He also noted her horns had been broken. His father was closer to the entrance, showing several blows against his chest and abdomen. He probably tried to protect his mother, but what could a human do against blood lusted Tal-Vashoth? He extended one arm towards them and let it fall while crying, feeling like part of him died right there. He felt someone kneeling behind him and placing their arms around him, and a soothing voice telling him he was safe now, that everything was going to be fine. His vision started to waver and the last thing he remembered was being taken away._

Ash woke up suddenly, feeling the cold sweat run down his face. He got up and leaned an arm on a nearby tree, trying to control his breathing. “Vashedan!” he cursed. He knew he wouldn't be able to get much sleep that night.


	2. Hissrad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unknown person arrives at Haven and the Herald leaves soon after. Ash has to investigate to know what is going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still trying to get a feel to writing dialog, so these first chapters might be a bit lacking. I will fix that on later chapters, so don't worry. Also, there will be a lot of interaction between Ash and The Iron Bull, but I'll make sure to add a reasonable amount of interaction with other characters. I have some ideas for that.

_Keep an eye on the Inquisition and report back if things start to go out of control. Do not make yourself known, keep an eye on their operations and report their ability to handle the situation. After scouting the nearest regions volunteer to join the Inquisition and keep an eye on them._

"Well, at least I won't be sent somewhere else, this was starting to get interesting", Ash thought, quickly burning the missive as per protocol.

After the explosion in the conclave, he had been ordered to report anything out of the ordinary that was happening around the temple and then wait for new orders. After the initial explosion and the following stabilization of the rift, by what now was the Inquisition, nothing else happened.

It was also the first response he got from the Qunari in weeks after he was told to keep an eye on the Conclave. He had been forbidden to do anything about the demons that started to appear and attacked anyone nearby. An Ashaad is not supposed to engage in combat, but then again it was him, and the Qunari knew he loved the thrill of battle. If not for his ability to move fast and draw very good maps he would have been a soldier for sure, but good scouts are hard to come by. However they would let him engage in combat if he deemed necessary, just because he was *that* good, at least for someone with the stature of a human. Since he was ordered to not make himself known for now, he would have to stay out of Haven, which meant that he would have to hunt and camp for some time, not that it mattered to him, he actually preferred it that way.

He thought about his loner personality, which actually worked quite well under the Qun. He would receive his orders, see to their completion, feel accomplished and everyone was happy. “Happy”, he sneered at the thought. He had never actually felt happy in this life. He quickly erased that line of thought, there was no point stoking his frustrations when more important matters were at hand.

Ash looked at the sky and thought that he would be able to reach Haven, the place where the Inquisition settled, during night time, which was perfect. He had to find some place to camp near Haven that did not attract much attention and still be able to keep an eye on incoming and outgoing expeditions. He decided that his best bet was to follow the girl with the green mark on her hand. She was the one that stabilized the breach and she would be an important part in solving this whole mess.

The journey to Haven was relatively easy, considering there were rifts and demons everywhere. He was delayed by having to avoid them, not only because of the demons but also because of the green light they emit, which would betray his position to other scouts and guards who watched them. Fortunately, he was still able to reach Haven during the night.

He found a hill near a forest that span all the way to Haven, so he made camp in the forest, making sure he would be hidden by the hill so that people going through the road couldn’t see him. He would be able to get near Haven undetected using the forest, keeping an eye on their proceedings. Since no one in Haven was up except for guards when he arrived, he decided to lie down, sleep for the rest of the night, and then keep an eye on the Inquisition during the day.

* * *

The next days were quite informative. People would volunteer to join the Inquisition and provide resources, help healing injured people, tend to the animals or help in the frontlines. The girl with green mark, however, was the most intriguing. She was an elf, a mage by the looks of it, but she seemed in control of her powers. Ash got used to see unbound mages due to his prolonged scouting missions outside Par Vollen, but he would still feel restless around them. She was also called the Herald of Andraste by most people, he had no idea why, but it seemed to make her slightly uncomfortable. So she would go out, collect herbs and other resources to help the Inquisition and was sometimes called inside the Chantry by what seemed to be the people in charge. Apparently she had some voice in the matter. It was not something he thought someone who was thrown into this mess would do, which made him have some respect for her efforts.

Meanwhile they had gone to the Hinterlands, they spoke with a Revered Mother and pretty much settled the situation there with the war between the stray templars and the rebel mages. They also helped the citizens whenever they could and closed any rifts they came upon. So far he was impressed with their work. He only had praises for the Inquisition's efforts in his reports.

One day, someone he had never seen went to Haven and left a couple of hours later. He could see that something was up because the party that usually followed the Herald, a dwarf archer, another elf mage and a human warrior, the same party that went to the Hinterlands, started preparing their weapons and armor, which meant they would leave soon.

He wondered if he should follow the unknown person that started it, but decided against it. His mission was the Inquisition. After him, a scout party was sent, probably to scout the destination and provide whatever Intel they could gather when the main Inquisition force arrived. He was tempted to see how well they work but he had to leave that for later, since the Herald was probably the most important person when it comes to controlling and closing the rifts and every bit of information on her would be valuable.

Instead of following them, he actually went ahead of them. He was a scout, not a spy. He moved when he knew the way they would take and stop near crossroads to know where they were going.

The first night after they had left Haven came and the Inquisition’s party made camp. He camped near them, making sure that he wouldn't be noticed. Making himself comfortable, he calmed his breathing so that he could hear their conversation.

“… should cast barriers while Cassandra draws the enemies attention.” The Herald said.

“That’s the best strategy, I agree. It makes the most out of our potential as a team”. Said Cassandra.

“What if we find innocent people while we fight?” said Solas, always careful with his words.

“In that case me and Bianca make sure they survive to tell the story of our heroics” state the dwarf Varric.

“I still find it weird that you named your crossbow Bianca, it makes me think she is sentient.” The Herald spoke again, and the added “If that’s the case I surely don’t want to be on her bad side”.

The dwarf laughed, but said nothing as they started to get ready to sleep and decided when each of them would keep watch. They seemed to trust each other more than before and they certainly were capable fighters, he would not want to fight all of them together, hell, even only two of them would probably be a match to him. Above all, they seemed to have their mind on the right track, caring for innocents and dealing with the rifts. In sort, they seemed to be good people.

He felt uncomfortable by the companionship they expressed for each other, however. “It only complicates things when though decisions have to be made” he said, barely a whisper, while shaking his head. He knew that first hand, and knew full well the consequences of it. Frowning, he decided that it was not his problem, trying to avoid remembering, and went to a light sleep.

* * *

Over the next few days nothing much happened. They reached the Storm Coast and the Herald’s party went to one of Inquisition’s camp. He was able to overhear the Inquisition’s scout report, a female dwarf called Harding, but she was unable to give much information besides the fact that a group of bandits that called themselves the Blades of Hessarian had given some trouble and that some boats with the Templar Order insignia had washed ashore.

The Herald thanked the scout and they moved in the direction of the sea. Ash followed closely, having the rain muffling any sound they made meant that he would have to keep the Herald’s party on sight. Upon reaching the shore he had to stop, however. There was no way to move with them while staying unnoticed. He saw some fighting going on at the shore. It appeared to be a group of mercenaries against a group of Tevinter soldiers. There was, however, a Qunari among the mercenaries. Ash frowned and scratched his beard. That could become a problem if he is Tal-Vashoth.

He saw the Herald talk for a bit with the Qunari after they killed all the Tevinter soldiers, and soon after the Qunari shouted that they had just been hired. Ash really needed to get more information on him.

The rest of the day went without much of a problem, the chargers were sent to Haven and the Qunari had stayed with the Herald to deal with the bandits and some missing scouts from the Inquisition. During the day, Ash could have sworn that the Qunari had looked directly at him, even though he was pretty sure he couldn't see him from where he watched.

That night he made camp a bit farther away from the Inquisition camp. The Qunari did not inspire him much safety, and so he was only able to enter a very light sleep. His suspicions were justified, when during the night he heard the sound of something heavy moving slowly. The sound woke him up instantly and got himself ready to attack at the slightest movement. He slowly got out of his tent. The rain had stopped, and there was some moonlight painting the area in a blueish hue. He stayed on the moonlight shadow of a tree, listening carefully.

Suddenly he felt a movement to his right. He quickly dodged a hand that tried to grab him and got into his defensive stance, using his swords to protect both his sides and front.

“You have a very interesting choice of weapons. It is strange to see an Ashaad around here though… or maybe not know that I think about it”. He said softly in Qunlat.

He was the Qunari from the beach. “Ben-Hassrath… Shanedan.” Ash said, relaxing a bit. Of course he was Ben-Hassrath, to instantly know he was an Ashaad. “Rank?”, he asked, continuing the conversation in Qunlat.

“You’re quite perceptive, you could have been a Ben-Hassrath as well, I guess you probably can’t lie to save your life then, which is why you ended up a scout. Regarding your question, I’m Hissrad, and before you ask, the Herald knows”.

He told her? Of course he told her, they are the Inquisition. They would have found out sooner or later. This way he can build trust sooner.

“Yup, you would have been a good Ben-Hassrath. Good job, I almost didn’t notice you. I just needed to make sure you weren’t a threat. I guess two points of view over the Inquisition’s operations can make for safer decisions back in Par Vollen”.

“You won’t have to worry about me. I’ve orders to intervene only if the situation calls for it. After I scout the areas surrounding Haven I am to volunteer for the Inquisition and keep an eye on it”.

Hissrad nodded and turned to leave. However, he looked back and added, now in common “By the way, my name here is The Iron Bull, you better remember it”. And with that he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason I got inspired to write the chapter that follows the Demands of the Qun quest ingame, which came out really well I think, but delayed the posting of these chapters since I still had to finish chapter 2. Sorry about that.  
> As always, any constructive criticism is appreciated.


	3. Fading Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still trying to get a feel on how to write about the various characters, so any suggestions are appreciated. I swear the next chapter will have more dialogue.  
> Enjoy!

Everything was going to shit. That’s the only thing Ash could think of. He had just returned from scouting the Hinterlands when he noticed the army of red templars that had just reached Haven.

He ran across a street in Haven, two red templars were about to kill a small elf girl that was running for the Chantry when he intercepted them. He killed the first one with a quick strike of his right sword on his neck. The second templar, however, stopped the attack of his left sword with his shield. He looked… wrong, fuck that red lyrium. He glanced quickly at the elf, whom was frozen in shock. “GO!”, he screamed. The girl started to move and Ash focused his attention on the templar, just in time to parry an attack with his left sword. He moved quickly to the left side of the templar while he was recovering from the parried blow, and with a swift motion he hit the templar’s hand with the right sword in an upward motion.  The strike had the intended effect of disarming the templar, probably by severing his tendons, which let him finish the templar with his left sword, impaling him from the side. Blood spattered across his face and cloths, and the templar fell.

He was sweating and his muscles ached from the fights against the templars. All of which was forgotten when he heard the mistakenly sound of a dragon. “Well shit” he stated. He saw the Herald move with The Iron Bull, Varric and Dorian towards the trebuchets, not noticing him. “That will only delay it”, he thought, but they were capable of defending themselves, so he just helped the remaining citizens escape the templars. He wasn’t paying much attention until he heard the trebuchet being fired, not towards the dragon, or Archdemon, whatever it is, but towards the mountain side. “Vashedan! You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…” he cursed at himself. That was going to start an avalanche, so he would have to move, fast. He ran towards the Chantry, his only hope of surviving the incoming disaster.

He heard steps, and he hid in a room to his left. He saw the Iron Bull, Dorian and Varric moving to a small room in the back. Where was the Herald?

Then the avalanche hit.

The Chantry shook, Ash steeled himself beneath a desk that seemed made of solid wood. It proved to be a good decision as the roof collapsed, fortunately the desk held the falling rocks. Then silence.

Ash got up from beneath the desk, moving the rocks that had lodged around it and saw that the room, if it could still be called that, has mostly destroyed. The paintings fell to the ground, parts of the wall also collapsed with the ceiling and several furniture were broken. He moved to the door and tried to open it but it wouldn’t move. Looking up he could see the sky, so he used the fallen rocks to reach the ceiling and jumped into the snow below. He looked around and Haven was no more.

He made his way to his camp. He would need to get his belongings if he wanted to follow the inquisition to whatever destination they took. He got his small pouch with potions and a pack with the skins he used to keep himself warm at night that he had hidden and made his way back to what used to be Haven, to try and figure out where to go.

When he was able to determine the direction the people had taken it had been snowing for a while. However, the weather was becoming increasingly worse. He had stopped at Haven to search for the girl, but saw no signs of her. Either she died on the avalanche, or she made it out while he was going for his camp. Hoping for the latter, since she was needed to deal with the rifts, he kept an eye out for her.

He was eternally grateful for being a scout. This was a fairly strong snowstorm, but his training allowed him to still be able to know where he was going. Something, however, caught his eye. Something was moving in the middle of the storm. He started approaching carefully, and saw that it was, in fact, a person. He could see exhaustion, a hint of barely visible green as well, and sure enough that person fell before he could reach. She was the Herald. With barely opened eyes, she whispered something to him, but the words were lost to the storm. “Calm down, I’ll give you some potions that will help. I’ll take you to safety”, he stated.

He managed to give her a cold resistance potion and a healing potion just before she fell unconscious. He thought that the Inquisition shouldn’t be very far away, they had to make camp as soon as it began to snow.

He moved while carrying the human. She was surprisingly light, perhaps due to her below average height, but it still took its toll on him. Thankfully the storm had gotten better. Just when his legs were starting to protest and his last cold resistance potion used, he saw some lights. He managed to give a small smile of relief before heading into the encampment. “They will have to accept the fact that I had to save the damn Herald” he thought, already thinking about his next report.

* * *

 

When he arrived at the camp everyone looked that they had seen a ghost for a second. Then people started crying, thanking the Maker and making sure she was actually the Herald.

Then the people with whom the Herald dealt the most came, first looking at him and then at the Herald. The man he knew was called Cullen took the Herald from him and carried her quickly to a tent, most likely to a healer. And everyone followed them, except for Leliana, pretty sure she was Leliana, the spymaster, and The Iron Bull. She looked at him, eyes studying him, but decided to follow her companions to the healer’s tent. He was pretty sure she would have questions for him later. The Iron Bull also gave him a quick look and an appraising nod.

Most people, thankfully, went to their tents because of the weather, but kept looking at him and talking about the Herald. There was no need to him to go see the Herald right now, he knew well enough her condition. If she lived the night she would be fine in three or four days, probably.

The Iron Bull took him to an empty tent. “You can stay here. I assume you will be sending a report on what happened and so will I, but I need to know…” he said with a serious face, showing no other emotion, and then asked “will you tell them you’re a viddathari?”.

Ash looked at him and shrugged, “My mission is not to disrupt the Inquisition, it is actually the opposite, as you know. I imagine it is the same for you”. Then he added, “I see no reason to let them know, they will find out one way of another. They are called the _Inquisition_ for a reason”.

The Iron Bull stared at him for a second, and then laughed. He must have made a surprised face, because he just laughed harder after looking at him again. Ash liked the low pitched laugh, like rolling thunder. “Sorry, I gave the exact same explanation to the Herald when we first met”. Wait… “She knows you’re a Qunari? And a spy? And they let you in?”, Ash was speechless, was the Inquisition so trusting? It could become a problem later. “Don’t worry, I explained exactly what I was going to do, they check my reports and I received a threat in case I ever betrayed them”, then he added “They are intelligent, especially the Herald, and weights what is best for the Inquisition. I am sure she will be a great Inquisitor”.

Ash was not surprised to know the Inquisition wanted to appoint her as the Inquisitor, she was able to make the hard choices and live with them. In that aspect they had the same point of view as the Qun.

“Speaking of whom, how was she when you found her?” The Iron Bull asked. Ash could barely tell a hint of concern, not in his voice or face, but in his posture. He decided to think about it later. “She fell unconscious as soon as see saw me. She was cold and exhausted, so I gave her a healing potion and another one for the cold. I wrapped her around one of my skins to keep her from freezing and then I brought her here” Ash stated, pinching the bridge of his nose. The Iron Bull gave him another look, as if analysing the motion. “I’m just tired” he justified. The Iron Bull gave him a pat on the shoulder and left. On his way out of the tent he heard him say something to someone, and when he was going to make comfortable for a night’s sleep someone silently entered the tent.

He quickly grabbed the hilt of his his swords and took a defensive stance. It was the spymaster.

“So you’re the dual wielder that helped the civilians at Haven, I must thank you for the help”, she said, not bothered with his reaction. He let some of the tension leave him but kept his hands on the hilts, waiting for her to continue.

“However…” she said, adding a threatening tone to her voice, “if you are to stay with the Inquisition you will also have your reports approved before sending them, and…”

Ash interrupted raising his hand, which earned him with a glare from the spymaster. “I am very tired and I would like to rest if possible. But let me tell you this: I am no spy, just a scout. My mission is to see how the Inquisition works as a whole, from the outside, and assess the situation of the regions around the breach. Thus, I was told to not let myself be known. However, what happened in Haven changed that. I could not let your Herald to die, or we would be in a very bad situation”.

She eyed him for a couple of seconds but noted firmly “You will still send your reports through me. You may integrate yourself with the rest of the Inquisition in any way you like, just don’t cause any problems. Evelyn will want to speak with you when she recovers, I’m sure. Also, speak with Josephine for a contract so we know how we can use you”.

“As you wish” Ash said, turning around to prepare a bedroll for the night.  

“Rest well” she said, leaving the tent.


End file.
